Intentional About Busy

There are moments when life quite literally seems to fly by. Times when you blink and an entire month is gone. You may look back and wonder where in the world time went! In that month’s place are commitments, meetings, socializing, appointments, besides the daily rhythm of work, school, eating and sleeping. The passage of time is almost a teaser it seems, a realization that we keep moving forward, we keep growing, learning, and experiencing life.

I once heard someone tell me that when you grow, time does speed up. This comes from our perception of time since when we are children we have fewer memories to look back on. When we grow there is suddenly more to reflect on and think about in the past. When we’re older we tend to have more to do and the ability to stuff our schedules full with things. Thus, we see time as fleeting.

It probably doesn’t help that we have so many things to do! It’s when our schedules are booked with new experiences and mandatory dates when busy becomes inevitable. We often make the choice to do so much. And why shouldn’t we? Time is passing after all.

There’s so many benefits to doing things. There’s socializing, getting caught up with people you care about. There’s ways to show your passion through a hobby or organization or group. There’s new places to travel to and explore and visit.

Busy isn’t always bad.

It’s how we’re busy that’s the important part.

Whenever friends come in to town from out of state or family arrives we are constantly seeking out new places all over Denver or Colorado to show them. Savoring Tibetan food in Golden or jumping up the rocks at Red Rocks or even walking the streets of a new small town, it’s the good kind of busy. The busy that makes you appreciate people you can adventure and explore with and the places you go to. I love these trips, even if I feel tired afterwards from all the excitement and activity.

Then there’s busy with work that I have to get done or the doctor’s appointments that I may not particularly favor.

However, it’s all about balance.

Whatever busy may look like for you, make sure you are finding a good balance between being busy with activities you actually enjoy and being busy with work you must do. You’ll drive yourself crazy if it’s just one instead of the other.

Then of course, don’t forget to take time to actually stop the busy. Do something you enjoy will help you to rest!

And most importantly, don’t let being busy be an excuse for doing the things that are most important to you.

If you find yourself busy all the time maybe it’s a good idea to stop and take time for what you value most in life. Take note of whether or not the busy is taking a toll on your life. If it is it may be a good idea to evaluate how you are spending your time. Look critically at your schedule and see if you can’t shake things up a bit and find a better way to make yourself happy.

One of the most important things to remember is to always take time for family and friends, and the people who you value most in your life. Stop to have a conversation, share a laugh, reach out and tell people how much you appreciate them. Make sure busy isn’t an excuse from seeing people you appreciate most.

Comments

This is so fitting for me because this week I have been dashing around like a mad woman. I’ve had all these classes, labs and social commitments every night so I’ve hardly had a moment to unwind. But what I have found about being busy it that it is always about how you prioritize your time. You have to make time for the things that are really important to you, and that always means sacrificing something but it is most often worth it.

One of my students and I had a conversation about this recently! He read a piece on how a year (for example) seems to go by more quickly as you get older because it becomes a smaller percentage of your life. When you’re 4, a year is 25% of your life, but when you’re 40…anyway. 🙂 I’m trying to live by words a co-worker shared–do less, be more. xx